The Return
by Crimson Flame-Blue Rose
Summary: Years ago, a novelist by the name of Alan Wake mysteriously vanished from the quaint town of Bright Falls. After a long journey, fighting his way through unspeakable evil, he has returned. (Ongoing Series, updates are infrequent!)
While the view of Cauldron Lake was beautiful, it was also surrounded in mystery and tragedy.

The surface of the lake itself reflected the wilderness like a mirror, a familiar and embraced reality.

But, if one looked closely, they could see the deep, dark, endless depths.

No one in the history of Bright Falls knew just how deep the water levels were, which would explain the

urban myths that were so popular with the youngsters in town.

Oh, there could be sea monsters in there; or it could lead to the other end of the world!

And maybe it did…

Almost two years ago to the day, an eccentric and mysterious novelist by the name of Alan Wake and his

wife came to Bright Falls for vacation. Within a week of the couple's stay, a bizarre chain of events

occurred in her cozy little town.

People from all over would just vanish without a trace - and are still missing even now.

And when Alan finally did turn up, he looked so tired and worn out; he raved about a cabin on Diver's Isle

in the middle of the lake that hasn't existed since that earthquake destroyed its foundation back in the 70s.

He couldn't remember anything from that week and his wife, Alice, had gone missing.

With a bizarre newcomer in town and the calm of the town slowly unraveling, it was no wonder that people

started pointing fingers and blaming Alan for his wife's disappearance and causing trouble in the woods at

night. They said he was a madman, and while no one could blame her - and it was probably normal to jump

to such assumptions - if she chose to believe the rumors as well, she couldn't bring herself to.

Especially after that night…

One night, everything went to hell.

The town of Bright Falls _was_ hell.

If Alan and his friend Barry hadn't been right beside her she would've thought it had all been an elaborate

nightmare. Cars and debris were sent flying for no apparent reason and people she grew up with and swore

to protect with her life were suddenly up in arms and attacking her and the duo.

Alan had tried to explain that there was a supernatural force at work; the darkness, the lady in black who

controlled it, and the threat it posed if Alan didn't comply with her wishes.

She didn't understand it all at the time, it was a lot to take in and there _wasn't_ time to ponder on it, but she

promised to get Alan where he needed to go.

The last time she had seen him was when he left her, Barry, and Cynthia Weaver in that bright storage

room at the water plant that night.

Once sunrise had come, Cynthia felt it was safe enough to leave that room.

Her first reaction had been to call any available patrolmen in town and go to Cauldron Lake to find Alan.

But, instead, they found Alice.

She was found sitting on the shoreline in her underwear, soaking wet, and crying.

She was taken to the hospital to be looked over and it came as a surprise that she was perfectly healthy.

No signs of abuse, malnutrition, not even hypothermia.

Alice said she couldn't remember anything past her and Alan's arrival at the docks; said she just started

swimming in the lake.

The doctors believed that she had gotten into an accident and slipped into a fugue state.

Alan has never been found, he had disappeared into the night - or with it.

After a year of sending divers into the lake and combing through a good portion of the surrounding forest,

the police gave up. It's believed that Alan had gotten lost in the expanse of the woods and fell into a crevice

of a cliff side or was washed away in a stream.

But, she, Barry, and Alice knew better than to settle for an easy explanation like that.

Sarah sighed as she took in the scenery of the lake, her crossed arms bringing her little comfort as the sound

of the waves crashing against the rocks sounded in the air.

After everything that happened, she could never really look at the body of water the same way again.

After Alan and a chunk of the townspeople had disappeared that week, she had placed a ban on swimmers

who were tempted to explore the lake's vast depths.

It was a beautiful trap and she refused to let anyone else be drawn in to it.

And yet, despite her own reservations, she sometimes came here.

She didn't understand why, knowing its past and knowing that no good came from being within its

proximity, but she always felt like she was being pulled here.

Maybe it was the worry that someone will get curious and dive in, never to return.

But, she felt like she was _meant_ to be here…

She didn't want to stay here any longer, it was going to get dark soon.

Turning away from the lake, Sarah began walking up the path in the direction of her car, feeling more and

more relieved the closer she got.

Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, but she could've sworn she heard some kind of thud.

It could've been an old tree falling, but it didn't sound like one since the impact was rather abrupt.

She hadn't even heard a tree crack, had she missed it?

Oh, what the hell, she was here anyway so she might as well take a look…

Turning to her left in the direction of the sound, Sarah began to walk in search of the source, checking for

any fallen logs or boulders that seemed out of placed.

Or a car, the police had received some reports of abandoned cars in the last few months.

She squinted her eyes when she spotted a black and white…thing.

Was it a jacket? A picnic tablecloth?

Breaking into a light jog, Sarah closed the distance, her pace quickening when she saw the figure of a

person.

Oh god, was it a hiker?

"Hey!" she called over to the still body, trying to rouse a reaction.

Why did it have to happen?

She announced that ban for a reason, why didn't anyone listen to her?

She didn't want to file a report or make that phone call to the family...

Bending down for a closer look, she gently turned the man over, "What…?"

Was it really him? How? And why now?

His clothes were different. She remembered he had worn some kind of tweed jacket with jeans, but now he

was wearing a black and white checkered flannel shirt. So, he had changed since that day.

He was dry and warm to the touch, and looked relatively healthy.

That five o'clock shadow…

"Alan?" she spoke as she shook the unconscious man, "Alan! Alan, wake up!"

\+ . + . + . + .

Hey, everyone, long time no see!

I've been wanting to write a story for Alan Wake for a number of years; it was what got me interested in

writing in the first place, after all!

I had written this chapter as the opener for a role-play I was writing with a friend back in 2014, and I liked

it so much I had wondered if there was a way I could incorporate it into a full story.

But, I wasn't sure if I wanted to use the passage word-for-word, or if I wanted to start from scratch.

I've decided to use this as the prologue chapter for a series, a story that takes place after American

Nightmare, I think, though I might uses chunks from Alan Wake, as well.

I don't know where to go with it quite yet, that's why I'm only posting this chunk for now.

Once I get to writing more chapters, I'll add them here and I'll leave an update notice on my profile page!

I really can't believe that it's been five months since I've posted an update, but there's a reason for that.

Back in February, I found out that there was a scandal going on, and a massive amount of fanfics from

(And maybe AO3, I'm not sure) had been copied and posted on these bizarre spam sites.

I think it was a way for some scumbags to try to draw traffic and, I don't know, get money out of it or infect

people's computers with malware. I don't know who they are or why they're doing it...

But, in the grand scheme of things, I was really upset by the situation.

I felt hopeless, what was the point of writing and posting online if my work was at risk of being stolen?

It put a damper on my mood and then I lost the gumption to write.

I've been really busy, and tired, and I suspect that the summer is going to be even busier for me.

But, I still love writing, and I refuse to give it up.

I'm thinking that I'll just take a break for awhile, and I hope to do a lot more writing in the fall when things

calm down on my end - I've got relatives coming in, I've got cosplay and vacation plans...It'll be busy.

But don't worry, I'm not going to disappear, things are just going to be slow for awhile.

And just so you know, I _only_ post my stories here on and on my tumblr, if you see my stories

anywhere else (places that are not mentioned on my profile page), it's probably a fake site.

Do not go onto those websites, don't give those thieves site traffic and don't give them any opportunity to

infect your PC with any viruses. And, if a site ever asks for money, that is also a scam - my stories are free!

Thank you all so much for reading my stories and posting helpful reviews, it means so much to me!

Until next time!

Lin


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